


Of Arsenal and Sour Candy

by acercrea



Category: Football RPF
Genre: Arsenal FC, Contest, Gen, sour candy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-04
Updated: 2015-04-04
Packaged: 2018-03-21 04:51:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3678243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acercrea/pseuds/acercrea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The boys go into Arsenal TV studios and are met with a surprise: sour candy competition. Who will win?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Arsenal and Sour Candy

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This was a request from my queue, for a sour candy competition between Tomas Rosicky and his teammates.  
> Disclaimer: I don’t own anything you recognize. This is a fiction for fun only.

“What do you think they are going to have us do today?” Wilshire asked as we entered the filming studio at Emirates.

“No clue, I stopped trying to guess after the egg race. At least we know it is not unclassic commentary because there are too many of us,” Per reasoned as he ducked through the doorway but somehow still managed to shrug.

“Arsenal, you are back!” Jack greeted the red headed woman who was waiting for us in the studio.

Aaron ran over and picked her up, swinging her around as he asked her, “How was your trip to the colonies, Yank? How are your parents?”

“They are great, so is California, which last I checked was never a colony, but I was almost getting used to actually being called my real name again, so yeah, I guess it is time to get back to work,” she chuckled as the Welshman put her down.

“Hey,” Jack protested, “it is not our fault that your name is basically a curse word around the office. Besides, Arsenal is superior in every way to Chelsea, so why would you want to be named after our rivals? As far as I see it, we have done you a favor.”

“For the last time, Wilshire, I was not named after the club and Arsenal is not a girl’s name. But it really is my favorite thing in the world to explain my nickname to everyone you clowns introduce me to, hobbit,” Chelsea grumbled.

“Aww, we missed too, Arsenal,” Jack teased, ruffling her hair.

“Oh, don’t be such a git,” she replied, smoothing her hair out as Aaron and Wilshire chuckled the way they did every time she unintentionally used a Britishism.

“Welcome back, Chelsea. We really did miss you, Jack just likes winding you up,” I greeted the young woman with a hug.

“I missed you too, Tomas, and not just because you call me by my name. How is Radka?” Chelsea asked.

“She is well, thanks. So, what form of torture did you come up with today?” I joked, looking around the studio.

“Take a seat, I’ll explain once I get the cameras framed properly and we start rolling,” she ordered, going to the camera in the middle and fiddling with the settings.

“Wilshire, we have been over this, if you sit next to Per I have to Dutch the angle to get you in on the close shot, and I don’t want to do that, so switch places with Tomas or Aaron, please,” Chelsea requested as she looked through the viewfinder.

After rearranging, Chelsea finished framing the shots and finally filled us in on what we were doing. “So it is a big thing on YouTube to get sweets or snacks from another country and try them for the first time on camera. Since I was just in the States, I took the liberty of picking up some candy that I am pretty sure you have never tried and you are going to try it, but since this is Arsenal TV there is a twist. And that twist is that instead of getting normal candy, I got sour candy, and just for fun I am going to give it to you in what I completely arbitrarily deem to be least to most sour order. Any questions?” she asked.

“Yeah, why are there bins next to us?” Jack asked, picking up his trash can from the floor.

“Those are chicken bins,” Chelsea stated simply.

“What does that mean?” Aaron asked.

“It means that I think you are going to want to spit out some of this out and I thought ahead to give you a place to do it,” Chelsea explained.

“I can handle sour,” Jack grumbled.

“10 quid says I have less in my chicken bin at the end than you, Wilshire,” I challenged the young man.

“Make it 20 and you have a deal,” Jack replied.

“I’ll take that action,” Aaron interjected.

“What about you Per, you in, too?” I asked.

“Yeah, why not,” Per agreed.

“Do you guys have to make everything a competition?” Chelsea rolled her eyes at us.

“Boys will be boys, right? It is better to just let us have our fun, Arsenal. Don’t try to fight it,” Jack reasoned.

“Ok, whatever. Let’s do this,” she replied, grabbing a container from a side table and passing out a long strip of candy to each of us.

“This is a Fizzy Belt, we have these here,” Aaron told her.

“It is a Sour Power Belt, and just humor me, Rambo,” Chelsea sighed.

The candy was sweet and sour in my mouth at the same time, but it was definitely a pleasant flavor. “Aaron was right, it is basically a Fizzy Belt, but I like it,” I said.

“Yeah, this isn’t too bad so far. I reckon I could do this all day, Arsenal,” Jack grinned folding his hands behind his head.

“Glad to hear it, but it only gets worse from here. Next up we have Lemonheads, which are similar to a Sherbet Lemon,” Chelsea informed us, pouring a couple of round, yellow candies from a cardboard box into each of our palms.

“These look like little suns,” Per noted with a smile as he put the candy in his mouth.

“And taste like sucking on a lemon,” Jack complained, his face screwing up slightly.

“I am suddenly very glad I made that bet. These are great, way better than Sherbet Lemon,” Aaron chuckled.

“Yeah, so far so good, it is not sour at all once you get past the outer layer. I don’t know what Jack is complaining about,” I agreed.

“Oh shut it, Rosicky,” Jack spat.

“Play nice, Jacky boy. Ok, you have one more pretty tame candy. When I was a kid I always got these when we went to see movies in the theater, and sometimes after a whole box of these I wouldn’t be able to taste anything for a couple of days. They are called Sweettarts, and I think they are kind of like Refreshers or Love Hearts,” Chelsea informed us, doling out small round candy discs.

“I actually like Love Hearts,” Jack spoke, popping the candy in his mouth and chewing. Suddenly his face twisted up, and he exclaimed, “Ugh, that is nothing like a Love Heart, but I get the not being able to taste anything bit. Yeah, I can’t swallow this,” he spoke as he spat his candy in his bin.

“It is always the ones who talk the most who fold the fastest, isn’t it, boys?” Aaron asked, playfully shoving Jack’s shoulder.

“Oh, get off, mate. You can’t honestly tell me that you like those things, can you?” Jack asked.

“Yeah, I can. They are a little chalky, but very nice. Pleasantly tangy, but also a little sweet so they are not overwhelming. Top marks,” Aaron graded the candy.

“Per, Tomas, one of you has to agree with me, those were awful,” Jack implored.

“Sorry, Jack, I like them,” I told him.

“Yeah, I think they are great,” Per chimed in.

“Honestly Jack, if you thought those were bad, you are going to hate me by the end of this. Next up is Warheads, and this one is a bit of a doozy, but only for the first minute or so. After that, all of the sour is gone and you just have a sweet hard candy left,” Chelsea informed us as she passed out individually wrapped candies.

“Why are they all pink?” Jack asked.

“Because I didn’t want you all to say that someone got a more sour flavor than someone else, so I am giving you all watermelon. Don’t sass me, or you get lemon instead. Ok, unwrap the candy and I will let you know when to put it in your mouths. 3, 2, 1, bottoms up, boys,” Chelsea ordered.

The second the candy hit my tongue my mouth felt like it had exploded. My eyes screwed shut, my mouth flooded with saliva and I heard Jack say, “Fuck this,” and the sound of the hard candy falling into a bin. It took a lot to keep my own candy in my mouth, but I rode it out and soon the acidic taste was gone and I had a very pleasant candy in my mouth.

“Well, no need to ask what Jack thought, how about the rest of you? Per what did you think?” Chelsea asked.

“It tastes great now, but it was probably the sourest thing I have ever tasted. You ate those as a child?” Per asked.

“Yep. Tomas, what about you?” Chelsea questioned.

“It tasted like a kick in the face,” I chuckled.

“I am not going to lie to you Chelsea, that one was rough. How many do we have left?” Aaron asked.

“Just two more. Next up we have Cry Baby Tears,” Chelsea informed us.

“So, do I have to do this? I already lost, can’t I just sit here and watch the rest?” Jack asked with a pout.

“No, and you are a grown man, stop pouting, you are worse than Archie sometimes, I swear. Eat your candy,” Chelsea ordered.

“Oh my god, that is vile,” I heard Aaron say and 2 plastic plonks this time. This one was not quite as bad as the last, but I did not hold hopes for the tang to dissipate.

“How long do we have to keep this in our mouths?” Per asked.

“Don’t worry, your mouth will go numb in a minute and you won’t be able to taste anything,” Chelsea promised us.

“Have I mentioned that you are a sadist?” Jack asked.

“Not yet, but have I mentioned that I picked you for this special, because I figured you wouldn’t be able to handle it?” Chelsea asked with a cheeky smile on her face.

“No, she is right. As long as I don’t move the candy, I can’t taste it anymore,” I agreed, trying to talk without jostling the candy.

“Ok, that is long enough; we need to move on to the last candy. Now this last one is intense, I am not going to lie to you. It is called Toxic Waste,” Chelsea informed us, doling out candy from a container shaped like a yellow barrel with a hazardous materials symbol on it.

“And that is my queue to leave, have fun with your nuclear sludge, boys, welcome back, Arsenal,” Jack spoke, standing up and moving toward the exit of the studio.

“Jack, I think you are forgetting something,” Chelsea informed him.

“What is that, love?” Jack asked, stopping with his hand on the door handle, turning back to her.

“The 20 quid. You made a bet, Jacky boy,” Chelsea reminded him.

“Bugger,” he replied, taking his wallet out of his pocket as he made his way back and slapped a 20 pound note on the table. “Happy?”

“Ecstatic. You are free to go,” Chelsea dismissed him. “Ok, men, now that the boy has been culled, time to see who is going to come out on top. Eat up.”

This one was the worst, but my tongue had still not recovered from the last candy, so as long as I kept it in the same place, it was manageable for the moment, but it was getting steadily worse. I heard Aaron spit out his candy with an, “Ugh,” and knew it was just Per and I left.

I noticed Per’s foot tapping on the floor and knew he was also having a hard time with this one. I was about 5 seconds away from giving up when I heard Per say, “I am going to let you have this one, Tomas,” followed by a plonk.

“Tomas, I formally declare you Arsenal sour candy champion. You can spit that out now,” Chelsea informed me.

“Is it weird that I don’t feel like I actually won anything?” I asked with a chuckle as I spit my candy out.

“Well, along with the 60 pounds I can offer you a couple of Jolly Ranchers to counteract the acid in the sour candy. Does that sound good?” Chelsea asked.

“Yeah, I guess. Do me a favor though?” I questioned.

“Sure,” she agreed.

“Next time make Jack stay,” I spoke and we all dissolved into laughter as Chelsea passed out more individually wrapped hard candies, these ones in bright colors.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Let me know what you think, this one is just kind of a fun little non-romantic thing from my request queue.


End file.
